22 ¹ “Brothers and fathers,^(A) listen now to my defense.”

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(B) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew,^(C) born in Tarsus^(D) of Cilicia,^(E) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(F) Gamaliel^(G) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(H) I was just as zealous^(I) for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted^(J) the followers of this Way^(K) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^{(L) 5} as the high priest and all the Council^(M) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(N) in Damascus,^(O) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁹ “I too was convinced^(A) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose^(B) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{(C) 10} And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people^(D) in prison,^(E) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.^{(F) 11} Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,^(G) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.